


Go Forward

by anephemeralmind



Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Nobody Dies, So don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24275347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anephemeralmind/pseuds/anephemeralmind
Summary: Timmy has no idea where he is, or why the light is so bright, the last thing he remembers is being out with Will, and suddenly he's here. Nothing is making sense.Or, Timmy and Harper meet for the first time in purgatory.
Relationships: Timothée Chalamet/Armie Hammer
Comments: 36
Kudos: 92





	Go Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer!! This fic is based on a fic I read a good while back, and in true me fashion, I cannot remember anything about it except the plot, so I have no idea where to even start looking for it to give proper credit. But just so you know, the idea to this is not mine ❤️

Timmy has no idea why he’s suddenly in a place that looks suspiciously similar to that one scene from Harry Potter, the bright white place, where he meets up with Dumbledore after Voldemort tries to kill him. But as he squints his eyes, looking around, he finds that the only similarities are the brightness, because Harry was alone, Timmy is surrounded by people.

There appears to be two lines at the forefront of the room, where he thinks people must be queuing for something. What they could be queuing for, he has no idea, just like he has no idea what this place is, or how he got here.

Last thing he remembered, he was out with Will, headed towards their favorite coffee shop, and now he’s here, all alone. Or, again, not really alone, there are people everywhere, but he doesn’t know any of them.

There are young people, old people, people in three piece suits, and people in their pajamas, as far as Timmy can tell, there is absolutely nothing that connects them, except for the fact that they’re all somehow here.

As he reaches up to scratch the side of his nose, he startles to find something in his hand. Squinting down at it, it almost looks a bit like a boarding pass, but instead of having any travel information imprinted on it, all it says – in gorgeous, practically glowing, calligraphy – are the words “Go Back.”

“What does that even mean?” Timmy wonders out loud, looking around, to see if he could find any types of clues to let him know just exactly where the fuck he’s ended up. But there’s nothing, just more bright lights, and people.

“Means it’s not your time yet.” A quiet voice comes from next to him, and he nearly jumps out of his skin as he turns to look at whoever spoke to him.

He’d almost started to think that he wouldn’t be able to interact with the people around him, since no one was talking between themselves at all, the kind of unnatural silence of this place really wasn’t normal at all.

But as he lays eyes on the source of the voice, he can’t quite work out exactly what he’s looking at. It’s like that one time in second grade, when one of his friends had gotten glasses, and he’d tried them on – everything was weirdly blurry and not at all comfortable to look at.

He tried to get his eyes to focus, but nothing he did made the visual any better, it was impossible to make out any kind of features at all. Sometimes he thought he saw an old man, but then he blinked and suddenly he was looking at a young woman, then he blinked again and it was a little kid.

Other times Timmy swore he could see right through it, like it was both there and not at the same time, and quite frankly, the whole thing made his head hurt.

“My, I’m sorry, what?” Timmy frowns, looking around again, but no one is looking back at him and the creature he’s talking to. “What does that mean, not my time? Not my time for what?”

“Not your time to die.” The creature says evenly, pointing to a screen next to Timmy that he swears wasn’t there just three seconds ago.

What he sees almost has him spiraling into a panic attack; his own body sprawled out on the ground, blood pooling underneath his head, as Will frantically performs CPR on him. He can also see a busted up car in the corner, and he can almost hear the screeching of tires that hit the brakes way too late.

“I’m dead?” He whispers, feeling tears start to well up in his eyes. He was only 24, he didn’t want to die yet, he still had so many things to do, to experience. This couldn’t be it, not like this.

“No.” The creature shakes its head. “I told you, it’s not your time. They’re going to save you, you’re going back.”

The creature points towards the front of the room, where the people are queuing, and for the first time, Timmy is able to read what’s written on the signs above their heads. One sign says ‘Go Back’ in the same beautiful writing as on his ticket, the other says ‘Go Forward’ also written in a beautiful script, but it looks slightly duller than the other sign.

“You should get going.” The creature tells him, before it disappears into thin air, like it had never been there in the first place.

Timmy doesn’t need to be told twice, and he hurries towards the queues. He’s a little sad to see that his line is much shorter than the other one, but then in a way it makes sense – not many people would get to cheat death like this, second chances were rare.

As he’s waiting for his turn, he can’t help but take a look around at all the people. He feels his stomach drop when he sees a little girl clutching a teddy bear, tears streaming down her cheeks as she watches her own TV screen.

Even though he knows he shouldn’t, that he should stay in line, go back to the land of the living – he can’t help but be drawn to this little girl. There was just something about her, like his soul was drawn to hers for some reason.

Stepping out of the line, he hurries over to her, gently laying his hand down on her shoulder as he crouches down, making them practically the same height. “Hey sweetie, are you okay?” He whispers quietly, feeling his heart clench when she shakes her head.

“Daddy’s going to be so sad.” She whimpers, hiding her face in her teddy bear as she lets out a sob. Timmy looks up at the screen, and jolts at the sight of the little girl in the middle of an operating room, the heart monitor screaming loudly as the doctors frantically tries to save her.

Looking down at the crumpled ticket in her hand, Timmy can barely make out the words ‘Go Forwards’ and he feels his heart break. This little girl, she can’t be older than 5, and the doctors aren’t going to be able to save her. She’s going to die.

“We lost my mommy.” The girl cries, looking up at Timmy with red rimmed eyes, tears still streaming down her face, and Timmy feels a tear fall down his cheek as well. “We lost her, and I _promised_ , I promised my daddy that he would never lose me, and… He’s gonna be so sad, I always keep my promises, always, but now…”

Wrapping his arms around the girl, he runs a soothing hand up and down her back, while whispering random words of comfort into her ear until she calms down. When he lets her go, she looks up at him with a sad smile, and thanks him for the hug.

“Hey, there’s no need to thank me, uh, what’s your name?”

“Harper.” She smiles sadly, looking back towards the screen as she sucks in a shaky breath, clearly on the verge of tears again. Timmy looks down at the ticket in his hand, and makes a decision he knows he’s never going to regret.

“Hey, Harper, my name is Timmy.” He smiles softly at her, lightly ruffling her hair when she whispers a hello back to him. “Listen, I don’t want your dad to be sad either, so I’m gonna help you keep your promise, okay?”

At first she just frowns, clearly not understanding what Timmy is getting at, but then when he gently pries her ticket out of her hand, and gives her his one instead, her eyes light up with so much happiness, Timmy knows without a shadow of a doubt he made the right choice.

Sure, 24 wasn’t that old, but at least he’d had the chance to live. Harper had only barely gotten started. If anyone deserved a second chance, it was her.

“Timmy! You – Thank you, this will make my daddy so happy.” She throws herself into his arms, practically squealing with laughter, and Timmy can’t help but laugh with her.

He knows he basically just signed his own death warrant, that he’s never going to be able to accomplish any of the things he’d been working towards, that Will is going to be heartbroken at not being able to save him – but it’s hard to care about that right now, when Harper presses a wet kiss to his cheek, and runs towards the line Timmy had just stepped out of.

Dying at 24 was never the plan, but at least he can die happily knowing he saved the life of a lovely little girl, and let her keep her promise to her recently widowed father. It was worth it. He had always hoped that when he died, if he went before his time, it would be because he did something heroic to save someone else.

And now, he could go peacefully knowing he had.

As he’s about to step into Harper’s place in the line, an old woman who was just passing by, accidentally trips and falls into him, making them both stumble before Timmy manages to regain his footing.

“Oh dear.” The old woman says sheepishly, still leaning heavily against Timmy while she fumbles for her cane, which she appears to have dropped while she tripped. “My balance isn’t what it used to be, I am so sorry, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” Timmy smiles, carefully making sure the woman is still supported while he bends down to pick up her cane.

He briefly wonders what the rules are for personal belongings in this place, since Harper got to bring her teddy bear and this woman had her cane, but as far as Timmy could make out, he had nothing with him at all. He knows he’d had his phone and wallet with him in his pockets, but they were nowhere to be found now.

“Bless you.” The woman smiles, reaching up and gently patting Timmy’s cheek.“You remind me of my grandson, do you mind terribly if I wait with you?”

“Of course not, I’d be honored.” Timmy can’t help but feel relieved, knowing he doesn’t have to die all alone after all. He might not have known this woman while he was alive, but he still felt comforted knowing she was going to keep him company until the end.

They arrive at the front of the queue much faster than Timmy had anticipated, and as he sees the doorway, he turns to Betty with a smile. “I guess this is it.” He says softly, before turning back around, and closing his eyes.

Sucking in a deep breath, he takes a step forward, fully expecting to pass through the doorway and into nothingness, instead, he feels like he just hit a wall.

“What the?” He tries again, but he’s still not able to pass through. He feels panic start to bubble in his stomach, and he raises his hands to try and push through the door.

“You’re using the wrong door.” The voice from before is back, and Timmy feels ice cold fear shoot through his veins.

“No! I – Harper, I gave my ticket to Harper. She went through, right? She has to have done.”

He can’t have fucked this up, he had made sure Harper would be able to go back to her father, right? Looking around, barely contained panic written all over his face, he can’t see Harper anywhere, but that doesn’t mean she’s not hidden away behind some of these much taller people.

If she was still here, he had to find her, had to make sure she got back home where she belonged.

“Don’t worry, she went through, but you’re still using the wrong door.”

Frowning, Timmy looks down at his ticket, which is carefully folded in half, the words ‘Go Back’ shining brightly back at him. “What? But –” Eyes widening, he looks towards Betty, who is smiling widely back at him, waving the crumpled ticket he’d taken from Harper earlier.

“It was going to be my turn sooner or later, dear, and the world needs you more than it does me.” She says with a gentle voice, taking a couple of steps towards the doorway, before turning back to look at Timmy one final time. “Live a good life for me, Timmy.”

Then there’s a bright flash, and she’s gone, before Timmy even had the chance to say thank you.

The creature points Timmy towards the other doorway, “Go home, Timothée”

Not even hesitating, Timmy steps towards the door, taking a deep breath, and walks right through.

* * *

If Armie had known how this day was going to turn out when he’d woken up that morning, he would have never bothered getting out of bed. He would have called in sick to work, and kept the kids at home.

But sadly, he wasn’t psychic, which is why he was currently sitting in the parking lot at work, with a car that had not one, but two flat tires. He was never going to make it to Harper’s school in time to pick her up, at least Ford’s pick up time could be pushed back with an hour, but he was probably going to miss that too.

He’s just about to call the school, and let them know what a complete failure he’s been, when there’s a knock on the window right next to him, nearly sending him to an early grave.

Only reason he doesn’t jump five feet into the air is that the car really isn’t big enough for that.

Quickly rolling down his window, Armie comes face to face with the new drama teacher, he thinks his name is Timothy or something like that. He’s just a kid, but the students really seem to like him, so he can’t be all bad.

Armie tries his best to not look like he just had a minor heart attack, but judging by the sheepish smile on maybe!Timothy’s face, he didn’t do a very good job.

“Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Maybe!Timothy starts, “But I couldn’t help but notice your tires, have you called triple A?”

Shaking his head, Armie has no idea how to tell this kid that he can’t exactly afford triple A right now, since they’re still trying to pay off Harper’s hospital bills, but before he has a chance to say anything at all, his phone rings.

He winces when he sees it’s Harper’s school calling, just what he fucking needed right now.

“Sorry, just one second, I have to take this.” Maybe!Timothy nods, and takes a half step back to give Armie some privacy, but he doesn’t walk away, which, dammit, he really was a good kid wasn’t he?

“Hey it’s Armie, yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah, sorry, my car got a flat, I – Yeah, I know, I’ll be there as soon as I can, I’m sorry again.” He feels very much like a kid that just got scolded for doing something they knew they shouldn’t do, but at least Harper’s teacher promised to stay with her until he got there.

Now all he needed to do was call an Uber or something, he’d figure out the money situation later, right now he just needed to get to his kids.

Noticing the phone call is over, maybe!Timothy comes closer, and Armie finds himself stumbling over his words to explain, why he’s so desperate to explain himself, he has no idea. There’s just something about this guy, he can’t quite shake the feeling that he’s met him somewhere before, and that he’s important.

“Sorry, I – it was my daughter’s school, I was supposed to have been there ten minutes ago.”

Maybe!Timothy just nods, looking at the booster seats in the back, before turning back to Armie with a soft smile. “Do you need a ride?”

Armie is just about to decline the offer, to say that he doesn’t want to bother him, when maybe!Timothy shakes his head and opens the car door, already in the process of removing Ford’s booster seat. “I don’t mind, man. Come on, help me with this, and let’s go get your kids.”

  
Driving over to Harper’s school, Armie learns that maybe!Timothy’s name is actually Timothée, but that everyone just calls him Timmy. “I mean, the students call me Mr. Timmy, because they think it’s funny, but it’s whatever. Timmy is fine though.”

He also learns that Timmy had moved to Los Angeles from New York just a couple of months ago, claiming he needed a change of scenery, but Armie remembers the headmaster being very vocal about how they had basically headhunted Timmy, because he was apparently the very best, and their school thrived on being the best. So chances are, Timmy only moved here because no one else could quite match the paycheck he’d been offered.

Sometimes Armie really hated working at a pretentious as fuck private school, because absolutely everything always came down to money, it was a little like being back at home with his parents, except if he talked back now, he’d get fired, and not a fist to the face.

If he hadn’t desperately needed this job to pay his bills, he might have done something else with his degree, because he can’t exactly say he had dreamed about being an English teacher as a kid, but since it paid the bills, and fed his kids, it’s not like he could really complain.

Pulling into the parking lot in front of Harper’s school, Armie is practically out of the car before Timmy has properly managed to stop the car, and as he runs towards the playground he can hear Timmy calling out after him to be careful.

“I am so sorry!” Armie pants out, when he sees Harper’s teacher sitting on a bench watching Harper play on the swings. “My car, I – I’m sorry, thanks for watching her.”

The teacher, Armie thinks her name is Ms. Whitley, smiles up at him as she collects her bag and starts standing up. “It’s alright, Mr. Hammer. These things happen, just don’t make it a habit.”

He knows he sounds like an idiot as he stutters over yet another apology, and promises to never be late again, as if he can really make those kinds of promises without eventually breaking them. But Ms. Whitley just smiles and nods, as if she believes every word.

“She’s a good kid.” Ms. Whitley tilts her head towards Harper, and Armie can’t help but smile as Harper waves over at them both with a wide grin on her face. “You’ve done a great job raising her, if only the other kids were half as polite and obedient, my job would be a lot easier.”

Chuckling lightly, Armie can’t bring himself to mention that the only reason Harper turned out the way she did, was because they’d lost her mother way too early, and they only had each other to lean on for a very long time.

There was Ford too, of course, but since he never even met his mother, Armie hadn’t wanted to push his grief onto him. He hadn’t meant to do it with Harper either, but she’d come home from her therapy session one day and said that Doctor Ted had said that crying was healthy, and that they should cry together when they missed her mom.

He’d talked to her therapist about it, and he’d said it would be good for bonding, as well as help Harper to move on and have a healthy relationship with her grief, if she got to see Armie deal with his feelings as well.

Armie never wanted his kids to grow up the same way he did – where feelings were a dirty word, and you pushed everything down until you could no longer feel anything. He wanted them to know that it was perfectly okay to be happy, sad, and everything in between, so if that meant he’d had to break down a few of the walls he’d accidentally built around his heart and show them that he felt those things to, then that’s what he would do.

It had definitely helped bring him and Harper closer, Ford didn’t really know what was going on, but he still listened carefully whenever Harper or Armie told him about his mother. Harper didn’t really remember much about Elizabeth either, but Armie had made a promise to always keep her alive for the kids, and listening to Harper talk to her little brother about her, he feels like he’s succeeded.

Timmy is waiting for them in the parking lot when Armie and Harper finally make their way back, and Armie is just about to apologize for taking so long, when Harper lets out a shocked gasp, before dropping her bag to the ground and running towards Timmy with a laugh.

“I found you!” She throws her arms around Timmy’s legs, and hugs him tightly, still laughing. “Just like they said, I found you.”

Armie has no idea what’s going on, and it doesn’t look like Timmy has any more of a clue than he does, because he looks between Harper and Armie with a look of complete surprise on his face.

“I, uhm, I’m sorry.” Timmy awkwardly pats the top of Harper’s head, and Armie can barely contain his snort. “Have we met?”

Harper pulls back with a frown, looking up at Timmy, before letting out a sigh. “They didn’t let you remember.” She whispers sadly, before hugging Timmy’s legs again, and mumbling to herself. “That’s okay, I still found you, you came back to us.”

  
Somehow, Harper manages to talk Timmy into staying for dinner. Armie might be a complete failure at a lot of things, but fuck it, he can _cook_ , so when Timmy hesitantly asks if it’s okay, Armie immediately says yes.

What better way to pay Timmy back for his kindness? He’d even offered to come pick them up in the morning, since Armie’s car was still in the parking lot back at work. He had no idea what he’d ever done to deserve someone as nice as Timmy in his life.

Dinner had been filled with so much laughter, even doing the dishes somehow became fun, and Armie almost couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed quite this much. It was a little unnerving just how quiet the house got when Timmy left to go home, and Armie didn’t really want to think about it all too hard.

When he’s putting Harper to bed, she smiled up at him, clutching the teddy bear he’d bought for her when she’d gone in for her surgery, when he’d almost… “It’s _him_ , daddy.” She says, as if she expects Armie to immediately know what she’s talking about.

Needless to say, he has no fucking clue.

“Who?” He asks stupidly, and Harper immediately rolls her eyes at him, and she looks so much like her mother just then, his heart clenches painfully in his chest.

“ _Timmy_ , daddy.” She says as if he should have already known that, and to be fair, she’s not wrong.

Of course she’d be talking about him after everything that happened today. The next words out of her mouth, however, makes shivers go down his spine. “He’s the guy from the bright place!”

She hasn’t talked about the bright place in _months_ , he’d kind of hoped she’d finally decided to let it go. Armie had never been a religious man, much to his parents dismay, and having Harper wake up from her surgery talking about how there had been this guy, in the bright place, who saved her life and let her come back to him, so that she didn’t break her promise of staying with him forever, it sounded a little bit too close to some form of purgatory for Armie to be completely comfortable with it.

Harper’s story had never changed though, there was always the super nice, tall, curly haired man, who saved her life.

“ _He didn’t want you to be sad, daddy,_ _so h_ _e let me come back to you._ ” She’d said to him that first night, and Armie had barely managed to process the fact that he’d almost lost her, to even begin to try and deal with any of that.

Now though, he couldn’t deny that Timmy seemed like the type of guy who would selflessly give up his chance at life to save someone else’s kid. But he still wasn’t sure if he believed in that form of after life, and hoped it was just a figment of Harper’s imagination.

It didn’t explain how she recognized Timmy though, or why Armie’s heart kept screaming at him whenever he thought of Timmy’s smile, but, those were thoughts for another day.

* * *

Befriending Armie Hammer was the best decision Timmy had made in his whole entire life.

Sure, it had taken him a little longer than he’d anticipated on his first day at work, when he’d been introduced to his coworkers and had laid eyes on the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen in his life, and had decided that they were going to become best friends come hell or high water – But he’d gotten there in the end, which is all that matters.

At first he’d worried that Armie didn’t like him, because he rarely ever looked at him, or acknowledged him at all really, but it turns out that Armie is just a giant ball of stress, who’s constantly trapped inside his own head. Which, Timmy can relate.

After he’d given him that ride to pick his kids up, however, it was like Timmy had gotten officially adopted into the Hammer family. A lot of that might be because of Harper, who was still so sure she’d met him somewhere else before, even though she didn’t want to tell him where it was.

“You’ll remember eventually.” Was all she said whenever Timmy tried to ask about it.

Thing is, he doesn’t at all doubt that she thinks she knows him, he just wishes she’d tell him where they met. He can tell that Armie knows, but for some reason, he won’t tell him either.

“It’s Harper’s story to tell.” Armie had shrugged the first, and last, time Timmy had asked him, and that was coincidentally also the time Timmy decided to stop asking, and let Harper tell him if and when she was ready.

One night, after the kids had gone to bed, and he and Armie were chilling on Armie’s couch with a random Netflix movie playing on the TV, Armie had turned to him with a frown.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Armie sounded more than a little nervous, as if he wasn’t really sure why he’d asked that question in the first place, and Timmy could feel his heart start to beat a little faster in his chest.

He can’t deny that after these last few months of friendship, he’d started to develop some deeper feelings for Armie, and if that’s what this was about, Timmy could only hope it would go well.

Nodding his head, he can see Armie suck in a deep breath as a grimace quickly flashes across his face, making Timmy even more nervous.

“Right, this is… This is going to sound really weird, okay, but. Did you – about a year ago, did you almost, uhm… Did you almost die?”

Whatever Timmy had been expecting, it definitely wasn’t _that._ He can’t quite stop his jaw from dropping, and his eyes start blinking so fast it makes Armie look like he’s moving in stop motion.

“What?” Timmy breathes out, not because he didn’t hear the question, but more because he wants Armie to take it back. How could he possibly know? No one here knew about that. No one. Because he’d never told them.

It wasn’t that he was ashamed of it or anything, it wasn’t even that it held some form of untreated trauma either, it was more just that he’d come to appreciate people not knowing, because when they knew, they tended to treat him like he was made of glass.

He had gone to therapy, he had worked through it, did he still get nightmares sometimes, of course, but for the most part, he was over it. It was a thing of the past. So why Armie would bring it up _now_ , he had no clue.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, I never should’ve – It’s, – I mean, It’s part of Harper’s thing, I’m really sorry for asking I shouldn’t have –” Armie stutters, and while Timmy is definitely still freaking out, wondering why his accident has anything at all to do with how he supposedly met Harper, he doesn’t want Armie to feel bad for asking the question in the first place.

Timmy had given him permission to, after all. Even if he hadn’t expected the question to be about _that,_ Armie had given him the option of shutting it down, but he hadn’t taken it.

“I – No, it’s fine, I just… How did you know?” Timmy really couldn’t wrap his head around how Armie had found out, because the only people who knew, were back in New York, and as far as he knew, Armie didn’t know any of them. But clearly someone had told him.

Tilting his head in confusion, Armie’s eyebrows furrow on his forehead. “Know?” He asks with a frown, “Know what?”

“About my accident.” Timmy shrugs, watching Armie’s eyes widen with surprise.

Now it’s Timmy’s turn to be confused, because if Armie didn’t know about the accident, then why would he even ask? It made no sense.

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry. I – What day was it?” Armie looked so spooked, and while Timmy couldn’t really understand why the date mattered, clearly it did to Armie, or he wouldn’t have asked.

“It was, uhm, last year, April 22. Why?” Hearing Armie suck in a shocked breath, as he went white as a sheet, Timmy couldn’t help but worry that he was about to faint on him or something. He reaches out to gently squeeze Armie’s shoulder, trying not to panic at the way Armie seemed to be looking right through him. “Armie? Are you okay?”

“She was telling the truth, I can’t believe it. Fuck, it’s actually real?” Armie is muttering to himself, and Timmy has no idea what on earth he’s talking about, but clearly something about his accident being on that specific date had meant something to him.

Timmy keeps his hand on Armie’s shoulder, hoping his touch can be at least a little grounding. He’s got absolutely no clue what’s going on in Armie’s head right then, and normally he would have pushed, tried to get an answer, but it doesn’t feel right to do that right now.

He doesn’t know why, but something is telling him that patience is key, that he’ll find out eventually, there’s no need to rush.

Armie had come back to himself a little while later, apologizing once again for asking about Timmy’s accident and bringing up bad memories – he hadn’t seemed to believe Timmy when he told him that it was alright, that no harm was done, but that was Armie for you.

Timmy had learned in the last few months that he was constantly worrying about crossing lines that weren’t even there, the amount of times Armie had apologized for things Timmy had barely even noticed, it was… A lot.

He couldn’t quite get Armie’s reaction to finding out the date of his accident out of his head though, and as he was lying in bed that night trying to fall asleep, he wondered if maybe the reason was that it held some kind of significance for Armie and the kids.

Maybe it was someone’s birthday or something, not that that would explain why Armie had asked if he’d nearly died first, but to Timmy’s tired brain, it was a good enough explanation that he was able to fall asleep.

Timmy suddenly found himself in a room so bright his eyes started watering, and he was pretty sure he was dreaming, but he also couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been in this bright room before.

“You have.” A voice comes from behind him, “We just didn’t let you remember it.”

Turning around, Timmy tries to locate the source of the voice, but there’s nothing, just more bright lights. “What? Who are you? Where am I? What do you mean you didn’t let me remember? Remember what?”

He knows he might have gone a bit overboard with the questions, but goddammit, he was confused as all hell, and he really didn’t like it when someone withheld important information from him. Especially not when he didn’t even know them.

“So many questions.” The voice sounds amused, and Timmy can feel his anger growing in his stomach, threatening to bubble over, but before he has the chance to say anything else, the voice continues speaking. “You already know all the answers, Timothée, all you need to do, is open your eyes.”

Next thing Timmy knows, he’s sitting upright in his bed, practically coughing his lungs up – but, just like the voice had said, he _remembered_.

He remembered everything.

* * *

Finding out Harper had been telling the truth, that Timmy really had been willing to walk head first into death, just to bring his baby girl back to him, Armie couldn’t exactly say he was surprised. Timmy’s kindness knew no bounds, and he would definitely be the type of guy who would lay his life down for a child he didn’t even know.

Armie wasn’t stupid, he knew his feelings for Timmy had surpassed friendship ages ago, but he was Armie’s first proper friend since Elizabeth died, and he didn’t want to fuck it up, so he hadn’t said anything, even though he probably should have.

He had never dated anyone when he had kids, he didn’t know how you did that. It wasn’t like Timmy didn’t know he had kids, since they hung out at Armie’s house pretty much as often as their schedules allowed it, and Timmy seemed to adore the kids just as much as they adored him, but Armie had still been worried that it would somehow just be too much.

Until now. Finding out Harper had told the truth, that Timmy had been willing to die for her when he didn’t even know her, he couldn’t help but feel a little optimistic that maybe dating Armie when he had kids wouldn’t freak Timmy out too much.

After making a promise to himself that he’d talk to Timmy about it sometime that weekend, Armie goes to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. He’s barely put his head down on the pillow, when his phone rings.

Normally he wouldn’t pick it up, but his phone automatically went on Do Not Disturb mode as soon as the clock hit 10, and the only person he had white listed was Timmy – and Timmy wouldn’t be calling him this late if it wasn’t important.

He hadn’t anticipated that the only thing Timmy would say before hanging up was, “Open the door, I’m outside.” but as he stumbles out of bed, and heads towards the front door, something inside of him is telling him that this is exactly how it should be.

That Timmy definitely should be here at his house at midnight, because he belongs with them, and the house doesn’t quite feel like home when he’s not there.

“I remember everything.” Are the first words out of Timmy’s mouth, before Armie even has the chance to ask him if he’s okay. Timmy throws himself at Armie, and lets out a strangled sob. “I remember.”

Armie doesn’t have to ask what he’s remembered, because it’s painstakingly obvious, from the way Timmy keeps sobbing, and whispering Harper’s name to himself. So instead of saying anything, he just wraps his arms around Timmy, and holds him while he cries.

Armie is not at all surprised when Timmy hesitantly asks if it’s okay that he checks in on Harper, “I just want to make sure she’s okay.” He croaks out, and Armie gently takes Timmy’s hand in his and leads him down the hallway to Harper’s bedroom.

For someone as small as she is, a dainty sleeper she is not, she snores worse than he does, and Armie can’t help but snort when Timmy’s eyes widen at the sound.

“We think she has a deviated septum.” Armie chuckles, softly closing the door. “We’re getting it checked out soon.”

They were supposed to have fixed it by now, but after that first surgery, and Harper’s reaction to the anesthetics, Armie hadn’t dared to even bring it up with the doctor for fear of him scheduling her in for another surgery before Armie was ready.

It was selfish, yes, but it didn’t seem like Harper was suffering at all, and dammit, he just couldn’t do it yet. Especially not now, when he knew she was supposed to die that day, he couldn’t face the thought of sending her back there, to that bright place, and have her not come back to him.

“I’m sorry for just showing up like this.” Timmy says awkwardly, fidgeting with the strings on his hoodie. “I just… I woke up from this dream, and I – Everything from that _place_ came back to me, and I just had to see her, to make sure she really made it back. I’m sorry.”

Armie reaches out to cup Timmy’s cheek, lightly stroking his thumb across his cheekbone. “You saved her life,” He whispers, smiling softly, “You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, okay? You’re the reason my little girl is alive, I owe you everything.”

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” Timmy says quietly, tears welling up in his eyes. “I just, I couldn’t let her go, it… I didn’t even know her then, but it still felt like losing her would kill me too.”

“It’s cause she’s your kid.” Armie’s voice comes out wet with tears, but he means every word. She might not be Timmy’s by blood, and they might not have started dating yet, but he had no doubt in his heart – Harper was as much Timmy’s daughter as his own.

Timmy’s eyes start to widen, and he shakes his head, mouth opening and closing without any sound coming out.

“She’s – You… I love you.” Timmy whispers, closing his eyes as if he’s expecting Armie to reject him now, after everything. It almost made him want to laugh, but just almost.

Instead, he lets a couple of tears roll down his cheeks, before he leans in and rest his forehead against Timmy’s, smiling as he feels Timmy’s still slightly panicked breath against his lips. “I love you, too."

**Author's Note:**

> This just kind of, ends, sorry about that. Also lol poor Ford got the short end of the stick in this one, hardly even mentioned. 
> 
> I really wasn't gonna write this, since the idea isn't mine and I couldn't fucking remember who the original author is, but it just would not leave me alone, so here we are.
> 
> Anyway, hope you're all staying safe, and I'll see you again soon. ❤️❤️


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